Fools in Love
by Satan Abraham
Summary: "He's a fool if he can't see how beautiful and wonderful and smart you are. Anyone who isn't at least a little bit in love with you is." RukiHime. Oneshot.


The best thing about Orihime Inoue, Rukia thought, was the fact that she was an utterly and almost unbearably happy person.

She had her off days, of course, everyone did, but for the most part, she was overenthusiastic and optimistic, and that was a good quality in someone. One that would cause someone to ask someone else, someone with black hair and a generally more serious demeanor, over to her apartment to hang out and maybe to stay for dinner?

Rukia wasn't used to very many friends. There had been Kaien, of course, and half the time her captain felt like a friend to her, but real friends that you could stay up late with and giggle about crushes? That was… that was something different. It had taken Rukia a little bit of time to get used to how utterly _feminine _Orihime was at first, and how _beautiful _that femininity was, but she had, and now it was time to go over to her friend's home.

They were walking there, Orihime practically skipping and attracting the gaze of everyone who had ever thought of being attracted to girls, Rukia walking beside her, wondering just how lucky she had to be to get a friend like Orihime Inoue.

"Sorry it's sort of small!" Orihime chirped when they got to her apartment, flicking on the lights. While it was a bit small, it looked cozy. Rukia liked it. Orihime put her schoolbag down on the counter and beckoned for Rukia to come in. "I'll make some tea! Just go wait on the couch, okay?"

"Alright," Rukia said. She edged into the apartment, sitting down awkwardly on the couch, schoolbag on her lap. She looked around. "I like your apartment."

"Thank you," Orihime said, smiling. Since the apartment was a small one, the little kitchenette was connected to the living room, with what seemed like an adjoining bedroom. "It's not much, but I do like it here. I've been thinking about getting a job. The bakery just down the street is hiring, and that sounds like a lot of fun!"

"You would be good there," Rukia said. She shifted, putting her schoolbag on the floor and turning to face Orihime, chin resting on the back of the little loveseat that looked like it had been bought at a flea market but was still comfortable. "Customer service is a big thing, and you're smart, too."

Orihime smiled again. She was digging around in the cupboards. "Oh, no," Orihime sighed. "I ran out of tea. I knew I was forgetting something when I went grocery shopping yesterday."

"It's okay," Rukia said. Orihime, still looking a bit crestfallen, put away the dishes she'd gotten out.

"We were going to talk over tea, but now we can't," Orihime said.

"We can talk just as well without tea," Rukia said, and Orihime nodded, putting a smile back on her face and sitting down next to Rukia. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well," Orihime said. "I wanted to ask you about romance."

"Romance?" Rukia asked. Orihime nodded. Rukia wasn't sure what to say on the subject of romance. She didn't know if she'd ever really felt anything akin to romantic love – the absolute adoration to Kaien was the closest, she thought. "I'm not sure."

"There has to be someone you like!" Orihime said, ecstatic again, tea forgotten. She leaned forward, nose nearly touching Rukia's. Rukia felt heat rise to her face. "I mean, I used to like Ichigo, but I don't know… he always seems so busy, you know? And while waiting for someone is romantic, if I did find someone else, I wouldn't want to just pass that up just because of Ichigo."

Rukia had known about Orihime's affections for Ichigo. It was, to be honest, a bit of a relief that her feelings were beginning to wane. Not that they wouldn't make a good couple, of course, but because Ichigo always seemed to have other things on his mind than romance.

"I'm not sure," Rukia said, clasping and unclasping her hands. "But Ichigo is a fool if he can't see how beautiful and wonderful and smart you are, Orihime. Anyone who isn't in love with you, at least a little bit, is a fool."

Orihime smiled and, to Rukia's surprise, hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Rukia," she said, voice lowering to a murmur. "That means a lot."

Rukia, face practically flaming by now, managed a nod. She wasn't used to this physical contact. If it had been anyone but Orihime Inoue, she probably would have made an excuse and gotten out of there as fast as she could.

Instead, she returned the hug as best as she could, smiling.

Because Rukia Kuchiki was no fool, and she was just a little bit in love with Orihime Inoue.

* * *

_**Wow **_**it's been forever since I've watched or read Bleach so I'm sorry about anything I messed up on? But yeah, this was requested by queeryuki on Tumblr, and, um, that's about it, really.**


End file.
